Stock charging tray



Feb- 13, 1951 J. A's. GAMBLE ET Al. 2,541,866

STOCK CHARGING TRAY Filed Nov. 3, 1948 M l "l, NL 'im W# Patentedreb. 13, 1951 LU. NI D ET 1 CHARGING TRAY A. -assi'gnorsto National .Tubetl'omnany fa corporation of- New..i` e *rsey Application November 3,.'1948, `Serial No."58,085

(CL, 21,4f-v-18) converters.

1 VVAfter vthecharge inea-Bessemer converter has been blown and recarburized, various' alloyng from the converter tothe teemingjlladle. -Such 9,. -v f materials, 'such as ferromanganese-andferroy silicon, are introduced. `Ingprevious'practice with 1 which we arefamiliar, alloying materials are invtroduced tothe charge manuallyas it is poured 'I practice has disadvantages of being a-hazardous --operation land of;not distributing the Aalloying mer charges-while suc-hecharges; are `-still Lin the converten, therebyovercoming disadvantages of previous practices.

A further object of the invention istoprovide improved charging trays -of ysturdy and simple Y.construction and I readily maneuverable` Vand which .are adapted to contain al plurality of charges of alloying materials for independent in- AYtroduction to` converters.

A further', object of the invention isto provide to mstoclrcharging trays ff-which has aslagvglayer i3. Theconverter-istilted -gso that the-alloyi-ng-*materials may-bei-introduced from' a-'stoclr--charging-ftray I4, which embodies fea-tures of the present invention.

:Tray ldfcomprises an clongatedfbod-y ,gfpre erably of steel plateand being efuniformrounded cross-section. i Saidxbody t has. an -openeended spout `vI 6" and forward and rear compartments l? fand lI3 back of 'said spoutv for receiving ,materials to be introduced to the converter :(Fig-ures 2 and 3);' Gates'liQ and :20 arehinged -to-the upper edges of the body -between saidforward compartment `and saidy spout vand: betweenksaid forwardvand rearward conlpartrnents.Il The preferred mounting for each oft-said gates includes a transverse shaft 2|. pivotally carried by. ears 22 upstandingfrom. thewalls of the=tray"body (Figure 5). Onefend .of `each1shaf-t lcarries anl enlarged head 23, which' is thusrigidlyconnected with the gate and which has a; slot 2.45 inits outer face extending in a direction perpendicular-to the plane ofthe gateA (Figure 6). Thetray body has additional upstanding ears Zand 26`to Awhich latch bars 2-1 vvand 28 areY pivotedfSaidlatch improved stock; charging trays which,` are constructed to introduce Vmaterials in the jmost advantageousplace in the convertennamely-.alittle above the .slag line jat the region'efv the, converter ,where the pool of metal Vis-deepestja ndywith suiiil cient forceto penetrate` thehslaglayer.

. Inaccomplishing these andothernobjects of vv the invention we have.v providedimproved del tailsof structure,A apreferred-form ofwhich is l ,shown inthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a vertical sectional viewofaBesse-A mer.co nv.erter vand showing in side elevation a stock chargingttray embodying features `of the present invention positioned `for introducing materials to the converter;

` Figure 2` is an enlargedtop rv1 lan;view of the trav shown' in .Figure 1;

Y latch mechanism embodied in the tray.

Referringmore 'in detail-to the fdrawing:

In Figure l there is s hownea Bessemer converter i0 of, any standard construction.` The yconverter contains-jajcharge I2 -of-"molten steel v which has been blownw and --recarburized- 1and bars are cooperable'withfslots lrin the enlarged heads to 'hold the gatesrclosed, butwhen released yfrom lsaid'v slots permit the gates to swing. open. Preferably a trough-shaped guard 29 .protects the vlatchbars against accidental release fand against-damage from' falling objects. .The spout preferably has va cover plate 30;y Preferably the backend of the tray'carrie's va countereweight 3 I, whichis of rectangular` cross-sectionand holds the tray upright when the tray rests on a'oor, -and which steadis the. tray as :materials are dumped into a converter.

l The mid-portionfotthe-tray1hasa semi-circular band 32 and later-ally extending reinforcing brackets 33,-which carry a transverse rod 34 l(Figure 4). Brackets 33 also act as stopsv that llimit the position to which thetray is inserted into the 1 mouth ofaconverter.

to the -ends vof' rod 34.

l counter-weight 31, saidglink lpreferably-being shaped as an isoceles right triangle. chain 31 is connected toclink 33. -As shown in Figure 1,

" chains 35'and 31 suspend thetrayrabovea converter and are adaptedto tilt the tray vforrdumping materials into the converter.

In operation, after the converter charge l2 has been blown, converter `Il) is tiltedto the position shown in Figure 1. Charges of alloying materials to be introducedl to the converter charge are placed `in-one or vboth of .compartments gli and IS oft-tray 16...@,The trayissuspended fromhans 35 and 31 and spout iii is inserted within the mouth of the converter to a point where brackets 33, contact the upper inner rim of the converter mouth. Chain 3l is then drawn upwardly until the tray is tilted to the dotted line position in Figure l, in which it has a slope of approximately 45. This slope conveniently can be gauged by observing the angle between the top of counterweight 3| and the contiguous edge of link 36. In the 45 position the top of the counter-weight contacts this edge.

When the tray is fully tilted. the vnosel of the tray remains clear of the slag layer in the converter, but is in close proximity thereto. The tray is proportioned so that the trajectory of material dumped therefrom delivers this material above the deepest part of the charge. When the tray is thus positioned, latch bar 21, which controls the forward gate, is withdrawn from slot 24. The material in the forward compartment forces gate I9 to open and drops through the snout into the converter. This material drops with suilim cient force to penetrate the slag layer and to be well dispersed in the charge. The material in the rear compartment may then be dumped into the same converter by releasing latch bar 28, or the tray may be carried to a different converter to which alloying materials are to be introduced.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that we have provided a stock charging tray which greatly facilitates the introduction of alloying materials to Bessemer charges. The tray is of sturdy and simple construction and conveniently maneuvered for introducing materials to Bessemer converters.

While we have shown and described only a single embodiment of the invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scopeY of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A stock charging tray for introducing Yalloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated body having aspout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and a compartment back of said spout adapted to contain an alloying charge, a gate hinged at its upper edge to the upper edges of said body between said compartment and said spout and adapted to open by swinging upwardly from its closed position, releasable latch means acting on the hinge of said gate for holding said gate closed, and means attached to said body for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartment through said spout on release of said latch means.

2. A stock charging tray for introducing alloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated metal body of rounded cross-section having an open-ended spout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and a compartment back ci said spout adapted to con tain analloying charge, a gate hinged at its upper edge to the upper edges of said body-'between said compartment and said spout and adapted to open by swinging upwardly from its closed position, releasable latch means outside said body and acting on the hinge of said gate for holding said gate closed, a counter-weight rigidly attached to said body back of said compartment and having a at underiace substantially at the same level as the rounded underface of said body, and means attached to the mid-portion of said body and to said counter-weight for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartment through said spout on release'of said latch means.

3. A stock charging tray for introducing alloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated metal body of rounded cross-section having an open-ended spout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and a compartment back of said spout adaptedto contain an alloying charge, a gate hinged at its upper edge to the upper edges of said body between said compartment and said spout and adapted to open by swinging upwardly from its closed position, a slotted head rigidly connected with said gate externally of said body, a latch bar pivoted to the outside of said body and cooperable with the slot in said head for holding said gate closed, and means attached to said body for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartment through said spout on release of said latch bar from said slotted head.

4. A stock charging tray for introducing alloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated body having a spout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and forward and rear compartments back of said spout adapted to contain separate alloying charges, gates hinged at their upper edges to the upper edges of said body between said forward compartment and said spout and between said forward and said rearward compartments and adapted to open by swinging upwardly from their closed positions, individually releasable Alatch means acting on the hinges of said gates for holding said gates closed, and means attached to said body for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartments through said spout on release of said latch means.

5. A stock charging tray for introducing alloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated metal body of rounded cross-section having an open-ended spout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and a compartment back of said spout adapted to con tain an alloying charge, a gate hinged to the upper edges of said body between said compartment and said spout, releasable latch means outside said body for holding said gate closed, a counterweight attached to said body back of said compartment, a link pivoted to the top of said counter-weight and having an edge cooperable with the top of said counter-weight for indicating the angle of tilt of the tray, and means attached to the mid-portion of said body and to said link for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartment through said spout on release of said latch means.

6. A stock charging tray for introducing alloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated plate metal body of uniform rounded cross-section having an open-ended spout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and a compartment back ofsaid Y spout adapted to contain an alloying charge, a

and having a at underface substantially at the same level as the rounded underface of said body, and means attached to the mid-portion of said body and to said counter-weight for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartment through said spout on release of said latch bar from said slotted head. 4

7. A stock charging tray for introducing alloying materials to Bessemer converters comprising an elongated metal body` of uniform rounded cross-section having an open ended spout adapted to be inserted within the mouth of a converter and a compartment back of said spout adapted to contain an alloying charge, a gate hinged at its upper edge to the upper edges of said body between said compartment and said spout and adapted to open by swinging upwardly from its closed position, releasable latch means outside said body acting on the hinge of said gate for holding said gate closed, a counter-weight rigidly attached to said body back of said compartment and having a at underface substantially at the same level as the rounded underface of said body, brackets extending laterally from the mid-portion of said body, and means attached to said counter-Weight and to said brackets for suspending the tray above a converter and tilting it to dump material from said compartment through said spout on release of said latch means, said brackets being adapted to engage the edge of the converter mouth to limit the position to which the spout can be inserted.

JAYE S. GAMBLE. LINDSEY STEWART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 122,589 Farrow Jan. 9, 1872 594,431 Riegel Nov. 30, 1897 667,061 Clarkson Jan. 29, 1901 

